https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i EDG-6305 Legal and Ethical Principles en-us 2019-03-15 02:24:14 UTC 2025-03-19 02:36:19 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Apple.png kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/341604505 My name is Kimberlee Gosney and I am pursuing a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction with teacher certification from Angelo State University. I plan to graduate in either Fall 2019 or Spring 2020 and obtain a fourth or fifth grade teaching position.]]> 2019-03-15 02:30:05 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/341604505 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344061610 The Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) offer legal assistance to teachers and opinions on legislative issues.

Issue 1:  The commissioner of education in Texas amended rules regarding teaching of ESL classes.  Teachers of ESL students are now required to be certified.  Schools have two methods of providing services to ESL students: in classroom or private teaching with a certified specialist (Texas Classroom Teachers Association, 2018, p. 7).

Issue 2:  
The sweeping changes in Congress with the recent elections show a change in attitudes towards education legislation with five new members being former teachers.  With the change and a sense of momentum, the Keeping All Students Safe Act reintroduced by House and Senate Democrats addresses "any personnel conducting restraint be certified by a state-approved crisis intervention training program" (Texas Classroom Teachers Association, 2018, p. 16). ]]> 2019-03-22 02:26:30 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344061610 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344066183 The Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) provides guidance and resources for Texas teachers addressing legislative issues, classroom lesson plans, benefits for teachers, and new educator support.

Issue 1: School funding of Texas public schools ranks "36th among the states and the District of Columbia" (Texas State Teachers Association, 2019, para. 1).  TSTA believes availability of funds through different avenues at the state level should be allocated to the schools.

Issue 2: The socioeconomic levels of school districts affect student performance leading to lower scores on STAAR tests.  The lower scores lead school districts in low-income areas to receive lower letter grades in the new letter grading system.  TSTA advocates for removing or revising the state letter grading system of school districts (Texas State Teachers Association, 2019, para. 8).]]> 2019-03-22 02:59:47 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344066183 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344463153 Issue 1:  In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education stayed a rule requiring school districts to review policies surrounding special education.  The rule required schools finding a "significant  disproportionality" in their handling of special education issues must allocate "15 percent of their federal special education funding to spend on remedies" (Samuels, 2019, p. 7).

Issue 2: School funding in Kansas faces an uncertain future due to lobbying tactics by Schools for Fair Funding. The lobbying group and several large school districts in Kansas previously supported a legislative bill increasing school funding, but now feel the dollars allocated fail to reach the amounts agreed upon. School funding in Kansas led to a state supreme court case and an agreement earlier this year on the language in the bill.  Schools for Fair Funding state the legislation falls short by "hundreds of millions" (Shorman, 2019, p. 2).]]> 2019-03-23 15:12:08 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344463153 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344466767 Issue 1: The news cycles in the past two weeks focused heavily on the recent indictments of celebrities and standardized testing proctors involved in admissions scandals nationwide.  One tool used by the man at the center of the scandal involved students using accommodations to cheat or bribed proctors altering answers to the standardized tests.  Advocates of students with disabilities needing accommodations during standardized testing feel public sentiment and scrutiny place these students at risk of losing accommodations due to the scandal (Camera, 2019).

Issue 2: In the first three months of 2019, almost 250 bills introduced in state legislatures address some form of school safety.  The majority focus on emergency drills, notification of parents, or devices installed on school campuses (i.e. metal detectors).  The next largest number of bills involves education, training, and hiring of school resource officers (Camera, States considering nearly 250 school safety bills already in 2019, 2019).]]> 2019-03-23 15:45:42 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344466767 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344507381 School funding remains a current topic found at the state and federal legislative levels.  School funding affects my future as a teacher relating to raises for teachers, funding for curriculum, and school building and technology improvements.]]> 2019-03-24 00:33:58 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344507381 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344509907 An article in the Journal of Advanced Academics, found through the Angelo State University Library, examined the funding levels of urban and rural school districts in Texas towards gifted education under the No Child Left Behind Act.  The study showed a disproportionate spending level affecting gifted classroom resources in rural areas and led the author to conclude schools taught towards the test to increase funding levels (Hodges, 2018).]]> 2019-03-24 01:22:38 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344509907 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344511046 The resources found in The Education Trust's website show nationwide statistics supporting administrators, teachers, students, and parents on a variety of funding issues. The compilations of research appear in many forms including data sheets, graphs, and written form.]]> 2019-03-24 01:46:23 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344511046 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344582099 My future goals as an educator depend on the continued funding of elementary schools.  News headlines have recently focused on teacher salaries and Texas' teacher salaries rank in the lower 25 of states.  Pending legislative actions to improve or revise funding of teacher salaries appear necessary towards retention of quality teachers.  Funding issues not only affect teachers, but the classroom environment.

School districts solely depending on federal and state funding face the task of eliminating or reducing services to students.   Schools in rural areas cut gifted education during the years 1996 to 2015 increasingly higher than urban schools.  Rural school districts’ funding allocations towards gifted education started with a smaller percentage in their annual budgets before 1996.  This led researchers to believe rural schools making gifted education budget decisions based on reduced funding occurred before the No Child Left Behind Act.  However, the cuts made from 1996 to 2015 after the implementation of the Act further reduced the resources available to teachers with gifted students (Hodges, 2018).

Teacher, school, and student-based associations lobby at state and federal levels regarding a multitude of funding issues.  Nationwide and state associations provide teachers and school districts information on current lobbying efforts. The associations also usually contain links or means to find other funding opportunities. Grants providing resources and funding specially designed for assisting in classrooms allow teachers and districts supplemental ways to alleviate funding cuts.  ]]> 2019-03-24 17:20:46 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344582099 kgosney https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344589073 2019-03-24 18:14:18 UTC https://padlet.com/kgosney/litb3w0hed8i/wish/344589073